Predict User Questions Using SeSAM

Is it possible to
predict user questions?
Jonatan Lundin, Information Architect @ Excosoft, Sweden

TCUK, 2012-10-04

© Copyright 2012 Jonatan Lundin

Agenda
Today, I’m going to talk about:
● The findability problem
● Product and information-seeking behavior
among users
● How to predict user questions and make
answers findable using SeSAM
(Search Situation Architecture and Method)


“Technical communicators, we have a problem”

● It seems that users are avoiding user manuals, simply because it
requires to much effort to find something in them.

YouTube
Wiki

Blogs ?
Magazines

Physical or
on-line user

Keyword search
(Google)


Solution: re-think the search user interface

● Many users are used to finding things on commercial sites, such as a travel,
a book etc, using rich search user interfaces built on for example a faceted
browsing approach.

?


User focus is to solve a primary goal
● The user primary goal is to solve the need(s) as effectively, securely, reliably
and easily as possible. A certain product is used since the user believes that
it can be used to solve the needs.

Nuclear power plant owner
Protect sensitive equipment from Result 1
Need 1
exposure of toxic CO2

A user that Protect humans from A product is
Need 2 Result 2
has a need to exposure of toxic CO2 used to solve
solve a the primary
problem or Record CO2 levels in goal(s)
Need 3 Result 3
requirement IEC123 format

View actual CO2 levels Need 4 Result 4


General knowledge about products
● Users possess general knowledge about products (stored as a schema).
● Users know that a product is used to solve a need (primary goal), that it
must be interacted with to solve the need, that it can be customized to
suit different environments etc.

Primary goal Acoustic alarm when
actual CO2 level is above
a set toxic level
Need
“Warn workers from Meaningful result
exposure of toxic CO2”

Aware Secondary goals
of need

Decide to Evaluate and Use the Maintain the
Implement the
solve need select a solution selected selected
selected solution
to solve the need solution solution


User perception about products
● Users construct a mental model about the product when interacting with it.
● The mental model is often constructed by assimilating prior knowledge which
means that the mental model can correspond to the product design or not.

Mental model User mental model is: User is:
Accurate Inaccurate Certain Uncertain
about the mental model

User is:
User search behavior is:
Aware Unaware
of the accuracy of the mental model Methodical Unsystematic
/calm /unfocused

User perceives mental model to be: Users is a
Detailed Vague Non risk taker Risk taker


Users are active and goal oriented
● Users act depending on the constructed mental model –
following the principle of least effort.
● If mental model is inaccurate or users perceive it to be vague, or users are
uncertain, they end up in a search situation looking for information.

Evaluate and Implement the Use the Maintain the
Secondary
select a solution selected selected selected
goals
to solve the need solution solution solution

Product
Task 1 Task 2 Task 3 Task 4 Task 5 Task 6
life cycle
OK!
?
Third ?
Third
goal goal

User tries to use the product and User wants to know how to
gets stuck using it. User wants to do task 5 before acting.
know how to do task 2.


Where do user go to find the answer?
● A user has many options to choose from to get answers.
● A manufacturer can take on a reactive or predictive approach to
answering questions.

User collaboration/keyword search
(physical colleague,
social on-line community, Google etc)

Support
? (reactive approach)

Documentation
(predictive approach)


Is it possible to predict user questions?
● User questions are possible to predict if we assume that:
● Users are active and goal oriented, focused on solving a primary goal by
reaching for a number of secondary goals.
● Users are asking questions, either of procedural or conceptual nature, due to
lack of required knowledge needed to reach these goals.
● A third goal is to find and read the answer to a question in a search situation,
and nothing but the answer. Thus users go to a manual to find out how to
reach a secondary goals task situation.
● Thus, technical communicators must focus on:
● Predicting user questions as we work in a pre-release mode.
● Providing rich search user interfaces to allow users to find the answer quickly.
● How do we predict user questions and build search user interfaces?
● The traditional “identifying-target-audiences-and-make-a-user-manual-per-
audience” principle is not the solution.


How to predict questions using SeSAM
Meaningful result statement Primary goal
Acoustic alarm when actual CO2 ”Protect equipment, sensitive to
level is above a set toxic level toxic CO2, from damage”

Evaluate Implement Use, activate, create Stop, halt View, ensure Troubleshoot Customize

Task 1 Task 2 Task 3 Task 4 Task 5 Task 6 Task 7 Task 8
t

1) Identify 2) Define 3) Predict 4) Develop
required assumed probability of a search user
knowledge knowledge questions interface
level
Maintenance, upgrade/migrate and administrative secondary goals are not shown in this image


Designing the search user interface
● Different taxonomies, for classifying the primary, secondary
and thirdly goals, are used to build the search user interface.
SeSAM taxonomies
Primary Result Secondary
?
goal statements goal
• ------- • ------- • -------
• ------- • ------ • ------
? • -------
• ------
• ---------
• ------
• -----------
• ---------
• ----------

Third Usage User
goal environment profile
• ------- • ------- • -------
• ------- • ------ • ------
• ------- • --------- • ---------
• ------ • ------------ • ----------
• ------- • -----
----

? ? ? ?
Search user interface, as for example a
faceted search browser or the actual product ? ? ? ?
interface (embedded user assistance)
Answers (DITA topics etc)


Example of a search user interface

http://orange.sims.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/flamenco.cgi/nobel/Flamenco


Example of a search user interface

http://www.sesam-info.net/SUI_DishWasherABC_pres.ppsx


Questions?
● Interested in knowing more about SeSAM to design technical documentation for
findability? Excosoft (www.excosoft.com) are happy to arrange a workshop or
lecture.
● SeSAM home page:
www.sesam-info.net
● SeSAM presentations on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/jonatanlundin
● SeSAM interest group on LinkedIn:
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=3699556
● Jonatan blog on dita.xml.org:
http://dita.xml.org/blog/jonalund
● Contact me on technical writing world:
http://technicalwritingworld.com/profiles/members/?q=Jonatan+Lundin
● Mail: jonatan.lundin@excosoft.se


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